Episode102
Gesundheit! As we rejoined our heroes we found them lurking at the entry to Yaw's Breath Weapon Igniter Chamber, just out of range of the SkittR Swarm, but not that far from the Dark-Star Ritual Chamber and the passage that we were hoping led to the Optic Nerve. We had discerned the pattern to the opening and closing of the Flesh Portcullises behind us, and figured we just had time to set our Igniter Overload Plan into action before they opened up again. OJ started in on a Combat-Time Battlefield Engineer Nano-Repair to his Stasis Bubble that we had blown out protecting the Party from the Mega-Sneeze, (just in case), while Pete went to work on figuring out how to overload the Igniter. Due to the massive scale of the Dragon-Mother, the distance down the passage to the Igniter Field was well beyond the range of any conventional weapons at our disposal, so Pete's plan involved re-configuring the super long range Tachyon Communicator / Quantum Observatory device that he had built for Oros and overloading it by shunting the main power from the FTL Drive through it. With the Tech side of things well in hand, Oz suggested that we might be able to open both orifices (or should we call them 'Anii'?) with the Scale of Passing if we could somehow use two Portals to reach both simultaneously. Kiwi's epic Mystic Lore helped figured out that two portals facing each other with the Scale in between would allow the Scales' benny-boosted range to reach both. If it worked, the orifices would be open long enough for the blowback to flood both chambers beyond. The plan was ready to set in motion so we leaped into action! Oz fired up the Scale for what he figured was one last time since it was showing serious wear and tear from all the epic benny manhandling. note: the total cost of the Scale ended up being twelve bennies over three sessions for something like 37 segments of enviro and Skitr protection. In short, it saved a metric shit-ton of damage. So much that its unlikely the 'lesser fisters' would have survived without it. Kiwi made the final preparations and went into super-wizard Location/Portal - Machine Mode, arranging the required Portals to both allow the party to get to safety behind the Portcullises and get the Scale of Passage close enough to the Sphincter Gates to hold them open when the Blast went off. There were some tense moments as Pete decided to take the extra Speed Factor 3 Action to fire up his Science Computer Program, but given how much was riding on the attempt, it seemed like it was probably worth it? While this was under way however, the Sphincter to the Ritual Chamber Opened up, with one of the Heralds of Yaw emerging from within! Fortunately it didn't seem to notice us, as it appeared preoccupied with carrying a glowing red crystal shard, (looking suspiciously similar to the Dark Star?), down the passageway the Optic Nerve. Our good fortune was short lived however, as it soon became apparent that we had been detected anyway with a critically successful perception catching Kiwi in the act just outside the ritual chamber. As Oz, with the rapidly deteriorating Scale of Passage led the lesser Fisters through the Portal and out of (immediate) danger, Joe and Pete held the line in the face of an incoming wave of SkittR Bots, now under the direct control of the Heralds and willing to brave the Igniter Passage. Despite futile-but-valorous Defend attempts by the non-Defender Armor Guys, the SkittRs used their ridiculous Critical Range to penetrate and defile us, (and then of course explode). Then, in one of the more Epic Moves in recent role-playing history, Pete ejected from his now blazing Black-Bird Space Fighter as it exploded, was catapulted by the blast over to Oros, (who had Morphed the Quantum-Tachyon Beam Device onto his exterior), where he reconfigured it to the correct frequency to fritz the Igniter, (sadly overloading the device and destroying it in the process), then fired it off with a remarkably well-timed Natural Twenty Science Check! We think the results were impressive, but it was hard to tell as we had to fall back through the Portal just before Kiwi closed it so as to avoid the blast. We watched in awe as the blue plasma coursed from one Portal to the next. Unfortunately the remnants of the Scale of Passage were vaporized in the blase as Oz held it magically in place between them but it had done its job. Then, the next Segment, the Flesh Portcullises opened, revealing a massive Plasma wave filling the entirety of the cavernous passage, and heading straight towards us! Fortunately, we had planned for this eventuality, and Joe was able to pump another Benny into the Stasis Field Generator to increase the area of effect enough to contain the entire party. 7 Segments later we dropped back into time to observe the results of our efforts. The first thing that was immediately evident was the lack of SkittR Drones in the area. The fact that they were not compatible with the Igniter Plasma was a good sign that that was never supposed to happen! The second thing that was immediately awesome was that the 2 Sphincter Gates at the end of the passage appeared to be vaporized, along with everything beyond them. No more Heralds, no more Devourer, and no sign of the Dark-Star. While its possible they might have somehow teleported away or something while we were in stasis, we decided to file this under "Ritual Disrupted" and move on. The third thing that we noticed was that we had regained radio contact with the outside world, (apparently the sphincters at the other end of the passage were also melted?). We had a brief 'Trash-Compactor moment' as we misinterpreted our Fleet's cheers of relief at not being immolated coming over the airwaves, but we soon realized that thanks to Pete's Epic Scienceness Flukey Crit, (or maybe Dragon Physiology?), we had managed to overload the Igniter Fields on both sides of Yaw's snout, preventing his Breath Weapon from going off at all! Furthermore, the massive rumblings shaking the Dragon's immense form seemed to imply that the Backfire had somehow blown all the way back to its main Firebox, inflicting apparently even more massive damage elsewhere? We had no time to celebrate however, as we still had a Multiverse to save! With all of the Sphincters blown out and the Flesh Portcullises open, Kiwi was able to fire up his God-Sight and evoke a Portal directly to the end of the line: the spot where we had to squeeze down to fit into the Medium-Creature sized passageway that led to the Optic Nerve. We said a tearful farewell to Oros and left him with Nero, the Space Fighters, and the Non-Fister Co-Pilots to guard our rear flank, then proceeded. We hurled ourselves into the high-voltage electrical currents coursing through the nerve, (thanks, epic PRs!), and were whisked off to its terminus at massive velocity. Fortunately, nothing untoward occurred in the course of our voyage to the dragon's Brain Pan. Unfortunately, when we were spewed out the other end, we were all left Stunned and Prone by the massive energy emanating from what lay beyond! Fortunately, our combined magic/tech anti-stun / anti-prone action had us all back on our feet and good to go a mere one Segment later. Also fortunate was the fact that the massive blasts rocking the Dragon seemed to have temporarily distracted all of the terrible, terrible Reavers that were waiting for us, so they did not mercilessly anally rape us while we were briefly incapacitated. Unfortunately, there were four Heralds of Yaw, each one perched atop a light-reflective coated Brain Node, and each holding one of the glowing red Dark-Star Crystals. There were also totally not any invisible Reaver Assassins waiting to back stab us (we really hate these guys). While the Reaver Assassins started their assault, launching darkness bombs and back-stabs, we held fast (including a couple of very lucky Grievous wound avoiding critical ass-saving defends by Oz and Kiwi) and fired up our Super Combined Wrathful Righteous Gaze at one of the Heralds. Our worst fears were confirmed however, when the Red Crystal Shard absorbed the Gaze and redirected it up and away in a vermilion laser-like beam. Moments later the energy field surrounding the four cerebral nodes crackled back into life. Only Oz was within range so he was the only one stunned a second time but it's likely that the energy field will be a factor for the rest of the battle. Perhaps we can use it to our advantage? Tactically, it's a shame we couldn't have stopped that last Devourer from getting to the brain chamber with the crystal shard. That would have made our jobs a lot easier but focusing on the Blowback plan had to be done (especially with upgraded Devourer-Queens taking notice of our actions). note: maybe one of them is, at least, damaged since it might have been caught in the blast as it escaped down the optic passage. We should check. As it stands, it looks like we need to disarm the Shard-Devourers (or disable the Shard's effect in some way) so that we can attack the Brain sections directly. We've seen their light-reflective coating before; if it works the same way, then we need to blast through it with non-light attacks until it falls. Then, we can use our combined Prism-Gaze (at the right moment of the Convergence). All of that would be tough enough but the Reaver Assassins have raped us (fucking surprise Grievous wound attacks) every time we've fought them and there are more than ever this time. If we could somehow take them out first, things would be much easier but they have that nasty phase ability which makes it really hard to pin them down long enough to prism-Gaze the bastards. On top of all that, we're all pretty battered from some nasty nostril action. It doesn't take an epic-level Military Intelligence to see that things are going to get ugly. Oz's letter to Uxia composed in the final moments before the great Convergence: be delivered in the event of my demise Dearest Uxia, It pains me to write this but its doesn't look like I'm going to make it back to you this time. Yaw has played one last cruel trick and now my fate is tied to his. Since he must die to save us all so, it appears, I must too. We've accomplished so much together (restoring your throne, uniting the galaxy) but the thing I'm most proud of are our girls. Tell them that their daddy died so that they could guide the galaxy in a golden age forever free of Reavers. One thing I've learned in my travels is that souls naturally circulate as part of the circle of life. With a bit of luck, we may meet again in a different life. Until then, dream of me sometimes - maybe I will hear! Signed, Baron Osbourne Wheeler of Xerxaw, Consort to the Ekenwynne Throne, and your loving husband. Back to Space Junk Log Category:Space Junk